Most super rich couples have breadwinning husbands and stay-at-home wives, contrasting sharply with everyone else
We examined how couples divide work, focusing on three different wealthy groups – the super rich, the just plain rich and the upper middle class, as defined by their wealth percentile, and compared them with those of less affluent couples.
- We examined how couples divide work, focusing on three different wealthy groups – the super rich, the just plain rich and the upper middle class, as defined by their wealth percentile, and compared them with those of less affluent couples.
- We found that, in 2019, 53% of super rich heterosexual couples had arrangements in which the woman was not gainfully employed, compared with 27% of rich couples, 20% of upper-middle-class couples and 26% of less affluent couples.
- On the flip side, just 28% of super rich couples had both the man and woman working full time.
- What we still don’t know
We don’t know what exactly drives super rich couples’ work-family decisions.